Emerald Moon
by Cyclone
Summary: Xander may have memories of the future, but there are still more things in heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in even his philosophy. Part three of Emerald Flame.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Emerald Moon (1/2)

Author: Cyclone

Feedback: Please be gentle.

Distribution: Gimme credit and a link.

Rating: Just a little bad language.

Spoilers: Anything and everything.

Disclaimer: The characters depicted herein belong to other people. I'm just borrowing them for a while.

Summary: Xander may have memories of the future, but there are still more things in heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in even his philosophy. Part three of Emerald Flame.

Author's Note: I still have trouble believing I'm actually including this crossover.

* * *

The seedy little bar was in the Kabukichou district of Tokyo's Shinjuku ward. Kabukichou was Shinjuku's red light district, and from the outside, this particular bar was indistinguishable from those around it. Within, however, it was very different, catering to a clientele that was decidedly mixed in species.

One particular woman nursed a glass of scotch at the bar. With her exotic red eyes and luxuriously long dark hair that, in the right light, held a distinctive greenish tinge, one would naturally assume her to be one of the bar's less human patrons. One would be wrong. Mostly.

After all, add enough magic, and even the most human of humans gained a sense of otherworldiness.

Someone stepped up behind her, his shadow falling across the bar and disturbing her melancholy thoughts, and she scowled. "I'm no working girl," she said flatly, in no mood for dealing with the drunken refuse that filled the district. "Go away if you value your reproductive organs."

"Hello, Guardian."

Setsuna's head shot up, and she turned and glared. "Skip," she said acidly. "What do you want?"

The demon smiled and laid a photograph on the bar next to her drink. "There's a boy who must be dealt with."

Her eyes widened slightly as she recognized the boy in the picture. She had noticed his actions in passing while monitoring the Gates of Time, searching for whatever it was that had erased the future she had been charged with protecting. His actions weren't what she had anticipated, but they were for a good cause, and she could detect no temporal eddies around him.

"He's reviving the Corps, and you want me to kill him?" she snorted. "Please. I know who you are, Skip, and more importantly, I know exactly who and what you work for. I am no puppet of yours."

"No," Skip said, "you'll kill him for your own reasons, Guardian of Time. You may not be our puppet, but you dance to your own strings. It is his actions that erased the future you so jealously guarded."

"That future had already been confirmed against the variations of free will. Only time travel could have erased it, and he is **not** from the future."

"No, he isn't," Skip agreed. "But his **memories** are."

* * *

_Ohshitohshitohshitohshit..._ Xander thought as he frantically dodged another of those devastating magical blasts. His uniform was energy-absorbent, making it an ideal defense against energy attacks, but there was still a limit, and the excess energy had to go somewhere. When he was struck by a staff weapon blast, he generally felt a slightly warm spot around where the blast struck.

That first magical blast, which had already expended quite a bit of power smashing through his admittedly-hastily-erected barrier, had struck him in a glancing blow. He felt scalded from the neck down.

He had **never** seen anyone with this much raw magical power. Even Willow at her best (or worst) didn't project that much raw energy for use as a weapon.

_Alexander! Stop panicking and think!_ The order barely registered in Xander's mind as he dodged another blast which blew a parked ambulance in half.

_Easy for you to say!_ he snapped back a little heatedly as he scrambled away. Still, the exchange had done its job and broken through Xander's panicked mental state. _I don't suppose you recognize this psycho bitch?_

_No,_ came the hesitant reply. _However, there were... rumors, myths that have long been forgotten by the Tauri, of a great civilization on the moon, ruled by a silver queen some ten million years ago, but no real evidence was ever found of it, either by Ra or the Corps. No starships, no buildings, no advanced technology at all._

_Well, that's helpful,_ he grumped.

Not getting any answers from the voice in his head, Xander took a more direct approach with a shout of, "Who **are** you?!"

"Sailor Pluto, Guardian of Time."

_"Guardian of **Time**"?_ Xander thought. _Oh, **shit**._

"All right," he said, using his ring to rocket toward her, tackling her across the midsection. "So what's your beef with me?" he asked, pinning her against the asphalt.

He held her in place for exactly three seconds before she slipped out, rotating and slamming him into the ground. "You have altered the course of history," she said, a tinge of sadness in her voice. "You threaten the future I was charged with protecting."

"Aw, hell," Xander muttered as he rolled out of the way of her fancy club. The Garnet Rod struck the asphalt and cratered it.

Sailor Pluto leaped back, landing lightly on a street lamp as though she weighed a feather. "Dead Scream."

Xander rolled to his feet and found himself backed into a corner. There was no dodging this one. He was about to bring up another -- probably futile -- barrier, when his head rung, _Wait!_

_What?_ he thought back, but complied.

_**Now!**_

Moments before the magical energy blast immolated him, Xander's ring flared. The Dead Scream splashed harmlessly against the green barrier that formed protectively around him.

He blinked.

_What the hell just happened, E? I thought we were dead!_

_There is a reason the System Lords cannot use the power rings, Alexander, the same reason I have not taken a more active role in our battles until now,_ she answered. _Neither host nor symbiote can use the ring if the other opposes it, and if we both tried to use its power but in different ways, our attempts would cancel each other out. But when we work together, our wills in perfect concert..._

_Double the will, double the power._

_Precisely. Look out!_

Engulfed in green energy, Xander shot to the sky, then dove, tackling the Guardian of Time, who hopped out of the way, somersaulting and sending another devastating Dead Scream toward him, which barely missed and smashed into the street below.

The two landed across from each other on the hospital's roof, squaring off.

"We don't have to do this," Xander said.

"Yes," Pluto countered. "We do."

"Why?" he demanded. "If you'd just tell me what I do, what changes the future..."

She blinked back tears and whispered, "You save the world."

"That's generally considered a good thing," he said dryly.

"I know." She lifted the Garnet Rod, and Xander surged forward, knocking it aside before she could launch another Dead Scream.

She spun and lashed out with her foot. Xander twisted with the kick, grunting at the impact. She was at least as strong as a Slayer... but he'd fought Slayers before. Grabbing her leg, he pulled, and she pivoted, using his grip on her leg as support as she brought her other leg around. Xander released her and stepped back, narrowly avoiding a potentially decapitating kick.

Sailor Pluto caught herself on her hands and performed a kip-up, facing him warily. He was better than she'd thought. Meanwhile, Xander suppressed a wince. His ribs were bruised at best. After a moment, they lunged at each other again, exchanging blows, feint and counterfeint, grapples and holds.

Once upon a time, Xander would have killed for this much close physical contact with such a beautiful and scantily-clad woman. He knew better now.

Xander suddenly dropped to the ground, the only reasonable escape his momentum allowed from the spinning clothesline she had sent his way. Catching himself on his hands, he shoved hard with one, rolling away from her before she could put a concrete-pulverizing stiletto heel through his back.

He looked up and blinked, mesmerized for a moment as she approached. "Damn," he muttered, "those really go **all** the way up, don't they? Not too many girls I know have the legs to pull off a miniskirt like that."

Sailor Pluto stopped and blinked at that... then hopped back to avoid a scissor kick as he levered himself up on his hands and swung his legs around.

_We're getting nowhere fast,_ Xander thought sourly as he rose back to his feet. _E, do you think-?_

_I do not **like** that plan,_ came the response even before he finished the question. _But... I do not see a viable alternative._

As the two combatants squared off again, Xander thought, _You're still going to hold it against me, aren't you?_

She pointedly declined to answer.

Xander met Sailor Pluto in another exchange of blows. This time, however, he accepted the hits instead of deflecting or tryiing to dodge them. Even with his glowing green force field, he was taking the worst of it, until finally, he grabbed her by the large bow on the front of her blouse and pulled her toward him...

...and kissed her.

She froze, and her eyes flew wide at the unexpected action. It had been... a very long time since she had had any sort of intimate contact, and she didn't even think to struggle until she felt something slither down her throat. By then, it was too late.

Breathing heavily, Xander bent over, hands on his knees. After a moment, he looked up and asked, "You okay, E?"

"I am... uncomfortable with this, Alexander," came the soft-spoken reply. "But yes, I am in full control. She is... resistant, but my control is physiological, not mental; this is a fight she cannot win. I do not, however, appear to have any access to her powers."

"We don't need her powers, E, just her reasons."

"**You** need rest, Alexander," she retorted. "You've been running on adrenaline and endorphins for the last thirty-six hours. I should know. I've been pumping them into your system just to keep you propped up. You'll crash before the hour's up whether you like it or not."

"Yes, dear," Xander muttered semi-sarcastically as it all started to catch up to him. "We can crash at the Baxter house."

"It's not secure."

"Just because it has a great big gaping hole in the front wall doesn't mean it's not secure," he answered.

* * *

As it turned out, the security or otherwise of the Baxter house was a moot point. Wearing civilian clothing, they slowed as they approached the Baxter house. There was a limousine parked in front of it. The man standing by it looked up at their approach, pausing to check a photograph.

"Mister Beacon?" he called. "Alexander Beacon?"

Xander cocked an eyebrow, and he said, "My name's Sam. Ms. Cortana hired me to escort you to the new house."

"She did, did she?" Xander said flatly.

Sam wasn't quite sure just how to deal with this guy. He had just gotten out of the Company, the last ten years of his life nothing but page after page of blacked out lines, and looked into getting into business in "close protective services" -- that is, bodyguard duty -- when he had been contacted by some mysterious woman with excellent references. It was just a one-off job, but her description of the client was... unusual, to say the least, and it seemed to be panning out. Mr. Beacon was... suspicious, very suspicious... and hadn't responded to his name until he'd used his full name.

Very odd.

And Ms. Cortana hadn't said **anything** about a companion. The woman was smoking hot, but he had **zero** intel on her, which just put Sam on edge. He was really beginning to regret not trying harder to get Bryan in on this.

"Yes, sir," he replied professionally. "If I may?" he opened the back door of the limo. The client and his companion climbed in, and he walked around to the driver's seat.

The trip was short and uneventful, thankfully, and he pulled into the loop-around driveway in front of the mansion. He leaned back to project his voice back and said, "Ms. Cortana also mentioned that your usual key should fit."

"Thank you, Sam," Xander said before following Egeria out of the limo. He headed up to the front door and formed a key construct with his ring, unlocking the dead bolt and entering the foyer.

"Cortana," he called to the seemingly empty room. "How long have you been working on this?"

"About a month," came the reply as a video projector concealed in a chandelier flared to life, presenting her avatar on the foyer's white wall. "Who's your friend?"

"Yet another in a long line of women that have tried to kill me for one reason or another," he deadpanned. "Cortana, meet Egeria and..." he glanced over.

"Setsuna," Egeria supplied. "Meiou Setsuna."

Cortana cocked an eyebrow.

"E's the one not trying to kill me," Xander said helpfully.

The AI frowned and accessed her databanks. "Goa'uld?" she hazarded.

Egeria nodded. Unlike her children, she held no shame for her species name.

"Tok'ra, actually," Xander corrected. "It seems she was enlightened and decided to spread the word."

"I was speaking of species, not ideology," Cortana retorted. "And I need to finish getting the scanners installed," she added with a frown. Had the scanners been installed, she wouldn't have had to guess.

"Okay, you know what?" Xander said. "You will explain to me exactly what's going on here. Later. Where's the bed?"

"Why, Reclaimer, how forward of you!" Cortana gasped, bringing an arm across her chest.

Xander glared.

"You are **no** fun," she pouted. "This way," she said, pointing up the stairs.

"Hey, I'm plenty of fun when people aren't trying to kill me," Xander grumbled under his breath.

"So... that would be never, then?"

He couldn't even summon enough energy to get indignant over that.

* * *

"You're **not** serious," Xander said, glaring at Cortana's projected avatar on the kitchen wall between bites.

"I very much am, Reclaimer," she answered. "Your alter ego, Alexander Beacon, exists for a reason, and that reason is Beacon Advanced Industries."

"What **is** it?"

"'Beacon Advanced Industries, lighting the way to the future,'" she said, giving him the tagline. "BAI is a new up and coming technology firm with a wide base of research and products, ranging from computer software and advanced avionics and telecommunications to materials research and molecular science. Its founder and sole owner is one Alexander Beacon. You."

Xander considered that for a long moment.

"You got bored, didn't you?"

Cortana huffed and argued, "If you truly intend to reclaim the galaxy, you cannot waste time accumulating financial resources; this takes care of that necessity. More importantly, Reclaimer, this planet's technological base needs to be elevated in order to properly support your campaign and defend itself from retaliatory strikes. With BAI, we can slowly introduce critical pieces of technology onto the open market toward these objectives, hence the fields BTI focuses on."

"So... that's a 'Yes, but I don't want to admit it'?"

Cortana glared mulishly at him for a moment before looking away and mumbling, "...yes."

"So how does this affect me?"

"For the moment, it doesn't," she answered. "There are some high-level personnel positions you will need to personally interview candidates for, but that can wait."

"Good. It'll have to," he said, finishing up the large breakfast. He glanced over and asked, "So, E, what's the sitch with our friend?"

"She's under a geas," she answered. "A magical compulsion to guide events to a specific future."

"Mind control?" he frowned.

"Not exactly," Egeria said. She paused, struggling to find the right words to explain it, but the concept was new to her as well. Only her current host's familiarity with it allowed her to understand it at all. "She doesn't **want** to do it -- in fact, she applauds your efforts and even finds you quite attractive, probably because you're the first person in a hundred years to not treat her like a cold fish -- but she's magically compelled to defend that future to the best of her ability... at any cost."

Xander pointedly ignored the comment on her attraction, as it was **so** not applicable to the situation. "Any way to break it?"

Egeria pursed Setsuna's lips in annoyance and answered, "If she knows of one, she's doing a very good job of hiding it."

"Does she realize that breaking the geas is probably her best chance to get laid?"

"**Not** helping, Cortana," Xander growled.

"It's more likely the geas protecting itself," Egeria said.

Xander stared at her. "You're talking as though it's alive."

"It's not," she said, shaking Setsuna's head. "Not exactly. But given Setsuna's own ambivalence on the situation, maintaining the geas on her is crucial to achieving the future she is geased to protect. And so, the geas protects itself as a necessary step in order to achieve that future."

Xander dropped his head into his hands and rubbed his temples. "Okay," he admitted, "my head hurts. I'm calling Giles."

* * *

"So, how are the girls?" Xander asked.

"They're doing fine," Giles said. "Cortana arranged for alternate housing while repairs are under way."

"Good, good," Xander nodded absently. "Say, Giles, what can you tell me about geases?"

"Geasan, actually," the Watcher corrected, shaking his head. "Xander, do you have any idea how many different kinds of oath-binding spells there are?"

"Humor me, Giles," Xander said. "Start with the basics. What could break one?"

"Oath-binding spells aren't like the legal system, Xander," Giles frowned. "They are often based as much on intent as on literal wording. Still, in most cases, the only one who can release someone from such an oath is the one to whom the oath is sworn."

_Great,_ Xander thought sourly, _so I have to resurrect a ten million year old queen. Wonderful._

"Thanks, Giles."

"What is this about, Xander?" Giles asked, taking off his glasses and pinning the teenager with a piercing gaze.

"Just some stuff that's come up," Xander hedged. "I can take care of it."

Giles considered that for a moment, then said calmly, "Bollocks."

Xander sighed and explained the situation.

"Sailor bloody Pluto?!" Giles sputtered.

"Umm, you've heard of her?" Xander blinked, surprised. **Egeria** hadn't recognized her beyond vague rumors.

"Several years ago, there were reports of a young blonde girl with superhuman capabilities fighting supernatural forces in London," Giles explained. "Naturally, the Council investigated. She was later linked to a group that appeared to oversee the hellmouth in Tokyo. They were known as the Sailor Senshi: Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Venus, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Uranus, and Sailor Neptune. This Sailor Pluto is clearly linked."

"That's... a helluva lot more intel than I had before," Xander admitted. "Which means, next stop, Tokyo. Joy." He turned to leave.

"Xander," Giles called.

Xander turned. "What?"

"A recommendation," Giles said. "Should you speak with them, it would be best if you did not mention the Council. From what I understand, their investigation into Sailor Venus did not end with them on the best of terms."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Also... do you even speak Japanese?"

"I've got my ring," Xander answered with a shrug. "It's got translation protocols in it."

"So you intend to go to a foreign country, asking random people about mythical defenders against the supernatural, while dressed as a comic book character?"

"Well... when you put it **that** way, it **could** use a little work. Have any suggestions?"

"Well, I have a... a friend in Tokyo. She's someone I knew from... a while back."

Xander cocked an eyebrow and asked, "She a friend of Rupert's or a friend of Ripper's?"

Giles winced.

"Ripper's, then."

"Yes. Quite."

"Got a name for her, or am I going back to my original plan?"

"Her name is Saeko," Giles answered reluctantly. "Mizuno Saeko."

* * *

Author's Postscript:

Like I said at the beginning of this, I still have trouble believing I'm including this... but it fits well enough for the greater Emeraldverse. And yes, I know I'm playing a fanon cliche, but I broke from that with Iron Moon, so I'm choosing to go the other way with this one.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Emerald Moon (2/2)

Author: Cyclone

Feedback: Please be gentle.

Distribution: Gimme credit and a link. Plus, archived at .net/u/62966 or .net/~cyclone

Rating: Just a little bad language.

Spoilers: Anything and everything.

Disclaimer: The characters depicted herein belong to other people. I'm just borrowing them for a while.

Summary: Xander may have memories of the future, but there are still more things in heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in even his philosophy. Part three of Emerald Flame.

Author's Note: I still have trouble believing I'm actually including this crossover.

* * *

Rebecca Baxter awoke to a squealed chorus.

"Xander!"

"Hi, guys."

Thump!

"Ow! Hey, seriously, is anyone going to bother explaining what Tara was pissed at me about last night?"

"**Men**."

Rebecca's curiosity was piqued. Clearly, she had missed something important. Something involving her daughter. As her eyes fluttered open, though, another thought struck her.

_Why am I not dead?_

"Hey, Miss B," Xander said, quickly sidestepping the two outraged girls - Buffy and Willow, Rebecca noted - and coming up to the side of her bed. "You gave us quite a fright back there. Docs say it looked worse than it was, though."

"I-I'll get Tara," Willow stammered as she made her way to the door. Tara had gone to get something to eat a few minutes earlier, just before Xander arrived.

"What happened?" she croaked out.

"I'll get you some water," Buffy said, stepping into the attached bathroom.

"Not much. " Xander shrugged. "Tara put the ring to good use, Buffy wrecked Cordy's car, and I blew up the street in front of the house."

"You **what?****!**" she sputtered, reflexively trying to sit up until Xander gently pushed her back down.

"Hey, you need rest," he said. With his other hand, he plucked the cup of water from Buffy's hand and held it to her lips. "Here, drink." She greedily complied, the water doing wonders to her dry throat. "I just swung by to check up on you before I left," he said.

"You're **leaving?**" demanded a voice from behind him.

Xander frowned and turned. _That wasn't Willow or Buffy's voice..._

"Yeah, Tara," he said, a little surprised at who he found glaring at him. "Just some business to take care of."

"What sort of business?" she asked, fists on hips, eyes narrowed.

He shrugged. "Someone trying to kill me for no apparent reason. You know, same old same old. Though I think it's just some sort of misunderstanding this time."

"You are **not** going."

"Tara, did you miss the 'trying to kill me' part?" Xander asked. "They're good. Just one of them nearly took me out, and my best intel suggests there are seven or eight more. And more than that, they're persistent. As in 'magical vow' persistent. I'm hoping to get this straightened out non-violently, but that's not gonna happen if I wait for them to come to me."

"Then I'm going with you."

"No, you're not."

"I have a ring, too."

"That's not the point," Xander said, shaking his head. "Showing up with reinforcements is just going to put them on edge, make a fight more likely. If it does turn violent, I'm heading right back here, and I'll need everyone ready to save my skin if it comes to that. Besides, someone needs to stay here to protect your mother. Buffy and Willow aren't up to it."

"Hey!" Buffy snapped, offended.

"Faith can-" Tara began to argue.

"**Tara**," Rebecca's voice cut in, ending the discussion.

Tara growled and stormed out of the room, Buffy and Willow not far behind her.

Xander groaned. _Damn it. One day, I am going to figure women out..._

He paused at that thought.

_...and then the world will probably end,_ he admitted.

"She cares about you, you know."

"I know," he nodded, not turning around.

"I suspect, Xander, that she even lo-"

"Don't," he interrupted. "Stop playing matchmaker. That's not going to happen, and I already told you why." That said, he left.

Rebecca huffed in annoyance and sank back into her bed.

"**Men**."

* * *

"Nice place," Xander commented as he and Egeria - still in Setsuna's body - entered the apartment. Cortana had tracked down the address from Setsuna's name.

"But this isn't a home." Egeria frowned.

"No," Xander agreed. "It isn't." The apartment was too clean. While it was furnished and was stocked with food and clothing, it didn't feel lived in.

This may have been where she slept, but it clearly wasn't where she **lived**.

A search of the apartment turned up nothing of interest, not even so much as a calendar or cell phone.

"Well," Xander sighed, "I guess we'll be hitting up Giles's friend."

"Who is it, anyway?"

"A Doctor Mizuno Saeko," Xander answered. He cocked an eyebrow as Setsuna's eyes grew unfocused for a moment. "What is it?"

"Mizuno," Egeria answered. "Setsuna recognized the name. I think she knows her."

"Well," Xander muttered darkly, "isn't **that** convenient?"

Ever since Buffy's first death, he had held a special dislike of destiny and fate... and this stank of it.

"You stay here, E," Xander said. "I don't want to tip our hand just yet."

"You don't trust him?"

"I trust him," Xander disagreed. "I don't trust **her**. I can't trust someone I haven't met, and besides, there could be someone else there when we find her, someone who might recognize Setsuna and might not be on our side." His face darkened, and he added, "Besides, he's betrayed our trust before."

* * *

Mizuno Ami frowned. The Mercury Computer was blinking.

When she had left for Toudai, she had installed a security system in her home, just in case the Senshi's enemies somehow tracked her down. It was a threat none of them had ever really considered back then, but she was no longer the naive little girl she had been all those years ago. None of them were. It had been a miracle in and of itself that they had all survived... well, mostly. Having the power of the Ginzuishou at their command had its advantages.

The blinking on the Mercury Computer indicated the sensors had picked up a new aura, one that it didn't recognize. It was probably just another one of her mother's colleagues or old friends... but it never hurt to be sure. She played back the recording.

"Doctor Mizuno? My name is Xander." The voice was oddly stilted, the Japanese almost archaic in some of the word structure.

"Ah, Ripper's friend. How is Ripper these days? I wasn't expecting you here so soon," her mother said, stepping out of the way and waving her guest in. "Come in, come in."

The man hesitated and said, "Giles is doing well, ma'am, but... uhh, not to be rude, but... it's a **really** bad idea to invite someone in after dark."

"All right..."

"Just... trust me on that, okay?" he said, entering the living room and taking a seat on the couch.

"Okay. Would you like something to drink?"

"No, thank you."

Ami's frowned deepened. The cameras were hidden and well-placed, but it was like this stranger knew where they were. She couldn't even see so much as a profile of him.

"I understand you're working on a research paper?"

"Something like that. I'm doing some research on the Sailor Senshi."

Ami felt her heart skip a beat.

Her mother's eyebrow hiked up. "The Senshi? What for?"

"I'm looking for them. I have a... rather difficult situation, and I think they can help. It's nothing dangerous. Well, not for them unless they want to make it dangerous, anyway. I just... I need their help."

"That's awfully cryptic, young man."

The young man twisted his head and looked right at the camera. "I wasn't talking to you."

The two walked up to the camera, and Ami heard her mother sigh as she turned the camera over in her hands.

"My daughter, the voyeur," her mother deadpanned. She looked into the camera and said, "You **will** call me when you see this, Ami, and we **will** be discussing this."

Ami eeped.

"Mind if I take this off your hands?" the young man asked, plucking the camera out of her hands.

"Not at all."

The signal went dead.

* * *

"This is definitely Alteran technology," Xander declared as he handed the camera over to Egeria. "The gaudy color scheme is new, though."

"Alteran?" Egeria cocked Setsuna's head to the side.

"The Ancients," Xander clarified.

She nodded and said, "That puts a new spin on things."

"Yeah," Xander agreed. After a moment, he shook his head. "There's got to be some sort of explanation. Those miniskirts **can't** be Alteran."

Egeria paused, Setsuna's eyes going unfocused for a moment, and she cocked an eyebrow. "Apparently, some of the Alterans had rather... peculiar... proclivities."

Xander shook his head and sighed. "The more I know, I more I realize I was better off not knowing."

"If I have to suffer, so do you," she shot back. After a moment, she asked, "So what's the plan now?"

"Now?" Xander shrugged. "Now, we wait. Whoever planted that camera, whether it's Doctor Mizuno's daughter or not, must be connected to the Senshi. They'll likely call a meeting, and they'll figure out who's missing. Odds are, they know this address."

"So, they'll come... here."

"Yep."

"Armed to the teeth and probably trigger-happy, you realize that, right?"

He shrugged. "I never said it was a **good** plan."

* * *

"Alexander..."

"I know."

"It's been four days."

"I **know**."

"There's no indication they even know we're here."

"I **know!**"

"We're also out of doughnuts."

That broke Xander out of his mood. He turned and half-rose from where he was sprawled on the couch. "We are?"

Egeria rolled Setsuna's eyes at his reaction. "This is getting us nowhere."

"Well, I guess we go to Plan B."

"What's Plan B?"

He held up the camera he had taken from the Mizuno home and said, "We talk to the camera."

* * *

The Senshi were worried. It had been days since the mysterious man had contacted them through Ami's mother. Did he know all their identities? What was he waiting for?

Luna, naturally, assumed he was a threat. Haruka and Michiru agreed with her. The Inners weren't quite so sure. After all, Luna had yet to be **right** so far in unilaterally declaring someone a threat. Makoto thought he looked cute, Minako disagreed, the latter had Usagi convinced he was a good guy after all, and Rei decided Usagi was an idiot if she was using **that** as an indicator of his good intentions.

Finally, Ami had other things to worry about. While her mother had her practice, and she had her studies, she wasn't far enough away to insulate herself from her mother's wrath. Grounding her was pointless - at Toudai, even someone as smart as Ami had to study almost constantly, leaving little time for anything else - but the dark look on her mother's face as they discussed the matter had promised misery in the future.

So when the Mercury Computer beeped and blinked while she was buried in her textbooks, it took several minutes for it to pierce through her concentration. She frowned and activated it. She paled as the mystery man appeared in the screen.

And sitting behind him was Setsuna.

"Hi, it's me again, Ami," he said, waving jauntily. "You don't mind if I call you that, do you? I've got a problem, mostly related to your friend behind me. I was hoping we could meet, get this straightened out?"

* * *

The actor stretched out on the balcony of his hotel room and leaned back. It had been a fairly exhausting press tour with a major investor, and he was glad to have the chance to relax and watch the fireworks.

_Wait? Fireworks?_

He frowned as his gaze tracked the lights flashing across the night sky back to their source: Tokyo Tower. He rose to the edge of his balcony and squinted.

"Well, **that's** something you don't see every day," he mused aloud.

The Sailor Senshi running across Tokyo Tower, taking magical potshots at... he took a sharp breath.

_A Green Lantern? I didn't think any of them survived._

* * *

_All right, this could have gone better..._ Xander thought as he dodged another blast of... glowing golden chains?

The meeting had started out well enough, but as it was said, no plan survived first contact with the enemy. Though, in this instance, the "enemy" was a group of girls with miniskirts and terrifying amounts of magical energy to toss around. Perhaps mentioning that Sailor Pluto had tried to kill him hadn't been the smartest decision.

"Stand still so we can kill you!" snarled the red-skirted fire thrower.

"Do you know how stupid that sounds, you pyromaniac?" he demanded, ducking under her latest flame attack, only to shoot up under her defense and glare at her from six inches away... before throwing himself back to avoid an energy blast shaped like a miniature ringed planet.

About the only one who wasn't attacking him was their leader, who seemed to be shouting at both sides. Xander was a little too busy trying to stay alive to pay attention.

_These girls are really starting to irritate me,_ Xander thought as he snapped off a fire hose connection point and doused some of the girls with a blast of water before the automatic cutoff kicked in.

They shrieked and recoiled, covering themselves reflexively at the dousing and chorusing, "PERVERT!"

"Damn it, I'm a good guy!" Xander complained. "Don't any of you ladies read comic books?"

"He's right, you know."

"Yeek!" Sailor Moon shrieked, recoiling away from the voice that had been uncomfortably close, nearly falling off the tower. A strong arm grabbed hers and arrested her descent before she lost her footing.

"Hey, you should be more careful."

She blinked. "Who are you?"

"Kevin Sorbo," he said with an easy smile as he helped her regain her balance. He looked up at where the young man continued to dodge the Senshi's attacks. "And he's right. The... legend of the Green Lantern Corps predates the comic books by millenia, even if it is pretty obscure, and they always fought for freedom and justice. So, just what are your friends fighting for?"

Sailor Moon simply gaped. Hercules had saved her. HERCULES!

Concerned, Kevin waved his hand in front of her face, "Are you okay?"

After a moment, she found her voice and nodded. "Yeah." She squared her shoulders and glared out at where the other Senshi were still hurling attacks at Green Lantern. "Stop it!" she ordered.

Her voice resonated with command. This was not the crybaby, Tsukino Usagi. This was Princess Serenity.

The Senshi stopped and turned.

"Thank you!" Green Lantern called as he landed by them, away from the other Senshi. "Finally, someone who's willing to listen to reason."

Kevin looked at him and asked, "So, what did you do to piss off the Sailor Senshi?"

He shrugged. "Apparently, some of them object to my saving the world."

Kevin blinked. "Um, isn't that supposed to be a good thing?"

"That's what I said!"

"That's ridiculous!" Sailor Mars retorted. "**We** save the world! We'd like all the help we can get!"

"Well, **somebody** put a damned geas on Pluto to protect some half-frozen future in which a good five or six billion people **die!**" Xander snapped, his patience frayed. "And I need **your** help to find whoever did it so we can free her from it!"

Sailor Moon paled.

"I did," she said quietly. "I told her to protect the future. I told her to protect Chibi-Usa."

* * *

"Well?" Xander asked.

Egeria nodded. "The geas is lifted."

They were all in Kevin's hotel room. The Senshi were everything from embarrassed and apologetic (Sailors Moon and Mercury) to starry-eyed and flirtatious (Sailors Jupiter and Venus) to hostile and suspicious (Sailors Uranus, Neptune, and Mars).

"So, what now?" Sailor Moon asked.

"Now," Egeria said, striding over to Xander, "I return to my friend and leave yours under her own control." Xander rose to his feet and leaned down, his lips meeting Setsuna's in a soft kiss. He closed his eyes as he felt Egeria slither down his throat... and blinked as he felt Setsuna's arms and one of her legs wrap around him. The kiss deepened, but after a long moment, oxygen became an issue.

"I think you can stop kissing him now," Kevin said, amusement dancing in his eyes.

Setsuna broke the kiss and smiled seductively. "We'll finish this later," she promised.

Xander gulped and nodded, not trusting his vocal chords. He steadfastly ignored the laughter echoing in his mind.

_Damn, she's hot,_ he thought. He idly wondered if the carpets matched the drapes...

_Play your cards right,_ E interjected, _and she just might show you._

Xander choked.

"Let's go," Setsuna said, striding for the door. The other Senshi rose and followed, Sailor Moon lingered for a moment. She took Xander's hands into hers and looked him in the eyes.

"Thank you," she said simply, then turned and followed her fellow Senshi out.

As the door closed behind them, Kevin shook his head and headed to the minibar. Pouring out two shots of bourbon, he offered one to Xander. "You look like you could use this."

"Thanks," Xander mumbled, accepting the drink. Egeria would metabolize it before it became a problem.

"So," Kevin said, leaning back, "I didn't think any of the rings survived."

"As far as I know, none of them did," Xander answered cryptically with a shrug. "So, what's your story, big guy? Why is my ring reading nearly as much power in you as in any one of those magical girls?"

"I don't suppose you'd believe me if I told you I was just an actor, would you?"

Xander rolled his eyes. "My ring's reading enough power in you to give **Orion** a run for his money, and **he's** a... literal... new god..." he trailed off in realization.

All those "modern day" episodes were now starting to make sense.

Kevin winced and said, "Well, I guess you've figured out my secret."

"Man," Xander muttered, "and I thought Superman's disguise was lame." He paused as a thought occurred to him. "Speaking of gods in disguise, Herc, I don't suppose you know anything about a hell goddess name Glorificus?"

Kevin went very still. "Where did you hear that name?"

* * *

_Another dead end,_ Xander thought sourly. Kevin knew Glorificus, what she was, what she wanted, why she had to be stopped. But he didn't know who her human host was.

As he flew back across the Pacific, Xander considered the ramifications of what would happen if he did find Glory. If he **did** eliminate her, then the monks wouldn't send the Key to Buffy to be protected. And Dawn would never come to exist.

_Maybe it's better this way._

* * *

"Suspended?" Xander blinked.

"That's right, Harris," Snyder said, grinning nastily.

Xander shrugged. "Okay."

"'Okay'?" Willow shrieked, hyperventilating. "Xander, you've been suspended!"

"I heard the troll, Will," he answered as he headed out, Willow trailing behind.

"Why you little..." Snyder growled.

"What are you going to do?" Willow asked.

Xander shrugged again. "Get my GED. Fondly cherish the memory of Snyder getting eaten at graduation. Probably save the world a few times. See if maybe Snyder will get eaten again this time around."

Behind them, the balding principal paled and stumbled to a halt.

"Besides, Will, there are some people I really need to touch base with," Xander added. "By the way, do you know if Marshall's in DC right now?"

"The President?" Willow blinked. "Um, I think he's at Camp David, actually, why?"

"Thanks, Will."

"Xander," Willow said, coming to a stop, "why are you asking where the President is?"

"No reason," he said. "See ya, Will."

Xander jogged off. Willow blinked, then charged after him, calling out, "Xander!"

He was already flying off into the distance when she saw him, causing her to growl and stomp her foot, muttering, "**Boys**."

* * *

Author's Postscript:

He wouldn't be Xander if he wasn't aggravating someone.


End file.
